This specific volcano however holds the record for the longest continuous eruptions. “Etna is a series of nested stratovolcanoes with four distinct summit craters. There are two central craters, called Bocca Nuova and Voragine; the North-East crater; and the more recent southeast crater, formed following an eruption in 1978.” The reason tectonic plates are so important is because they are the reason most mountains form. The African tectonic plate is important for Africa because it extends across the entire continent straddling the equator as the prime meridian. It also extends over a portion of the oceanic crust that “lies between the continent and the various surrounding mid-ocean ridges.” The African plate actually also has 6 other large plates connected to it, but Etna is located in the north, on the Eurasian coast.